


Princess Eugene Fitzherbert

by icarusmoon



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Drabble, Eugene's POV, F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23729095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icarusmoon/pseuds/icarusmoon
Summary: Rapunzel beams and then, as he talks about their future together, her smile starts to disappear.The love of his life goes silent. She’s trying to think of what to say, Eugene reasons. That’s all. He had this whole speech prepared, after all. Rapunzel needs a speech, too. She’s going to say yes, he tells himself, because she loves him. He knows she does.Right? Right.Still. Waiting for her answer is agonizing.(Or: Eugene's inner dialogue after his [first] proposal goes horribly wrong.)
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	Princess Eugene Fitzherbert

**Author's Note:**

  * For [my otter twin](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=my+otter+twin).



> A short drabble for my sweet friend (who is also named Katie). I love you lots and I hope this gets you in the Fitzherbert Feels.

Eugene has been planning this moment for weeks, but he loses some of his romantic swagger when Rapunzel asks if he dropped something. He can’t help but laugh, and he almost stops to search with her, because her reaction is pure Rapunzel: kind and concerned and completely sincere. 

He shakes off her charm so he can explain why he is actually down on one knee. “No,” he finally says, his heart pounding as he pulls out the ring. 

_This is it, Fitzherbert. Don’t fuck it up._

He tells Rapunzel he has loved her since the day she knocked him out with her frying pan. That she is his light. His best friend. 

Rapunzel beams and then, as he talks about their future together, her smile starts to disappear. 

The love of his life goes silent. She’s trying to think of what to say, Eugene reasons. That’s all. He had this whole speech prepared, after all. Rapunzel needs a speech, too. She’s going to say yes, he tells himself, because she loves him. He knows she does. 

Right? Right. 

Still. Waiting for her answer is agonizing. 

“I...wow.” Rapunzel laughs, and for a moment, Eugene’s panic subsides. “I love you, Eugene, but I can’t. Just not...not now.” 

And then she runs. 

Well. 

Eugene hadn’t planned on _that._

***

Eugene doesn’t know what to do. 

He fucked up. He _really_ fucked up. 

He paces his bedroom, cursing himself with every step. 

A _proposal._ On her _coronation_ day. 

In his defense, it had sounded like a good idea at the time. What better day to propose to a princess than at her coronation? 

In hindsight, literally any other day would have been better. At least there wouldn’t have been a crowd of complete strangers watching. 

And he had probably (definitely?) asked too soon. They’d been together for six months. _Six months._ That was nothing, in the grand scheme of things. For Rapunzel—curious, adventurous, wonderful Rapunzel—six months is like blinking. She spent eighteen years as a prisoner and immediately became princess. 

Then, of course, she became Eugene’s girlfriend. He was her first crush. Her first kiss. Her first love. Her first...everything. He’s had all his firsts, and he’s made more mistakes than he cares to admit. From the moment they left that tower, Rapunzel became his last and only. 

And then he had gained a home and a family and a future, too. He suddenly had all the things he never had at the orphanage. All the things Flynn Rider pretended he didn’t want. 

Maybe that’s why proposing was so easy. He’s the most arrogant person he knows, but Rapunzel makes him feel _sure._ It’s why he told her his real name. It’s why he took her out on the water to see the lanterns. It’s why he would have kissed her if the goddamn Stabbington Brothers hadn’t wrecked it all, and why he gave up another kiss—and, more memorably, his life—to cut her hair. He had never lived so recklessly for something that felt so safe. 

He isn’t sure if he makes Rapunzel feel reckless. But she loves him, and he thought that would be enough. 

So why did she say no? 

But she didn’t actually say no, Eugene suddenly realizes. She just said something about needing air and left. 

Somehow, that’s even worse. It’s still a no, all things considered, but it breaks his heart in the way only Rapunzel can. He doesn’t want her to keep secrets, or feel like she has to hide. Not when she is finally free. Not ever. 

Worse still, this is his fault. 

_Dammit, Fitzherbert. ___

__He has to fix this. He isn’t sure how, exactly, but he figures an apology is a good place to start. And then he can bare his soul and pray to whatever god controls botched proposals._ _

__Rapunzel will understand, he tells himself. If _anyone_ will understand, it’s her. __

____And that’s enough._ _ _ _


End file.
